KISS Concert

C. J. Holmes:

Review by C. J. Holmes for The Kiss Album Focus, Vol. 1: Kings of the Night Time World, 1972-82
Rating:
I read a lot of the passages in the KISS Album Focus when it was an online feature of the old KISS Asylum site. I loved the stuff then, I love it now. In terms of sheer volume of information, this is probably the most comprehensive KISS book on the market. The truths behind some well-known KISS myths are explored (debunking many in the process). Julian Gill, who put this together, is obviously a knowledgable and dedicated KISS fan. The amount of effort involved in compiling this must have been staggering.

It’s just too bad that what is otherwise a very handy KISS reference is marred by awful (perhaps non-existant) copyediting. The spelling and grammatical errors, while numerous, can be overlooked. But what really hurts this book is the lack of organization and editing/trimming. For a book of more than 500 pages to have NO index is a crime. While having the chapters arranged in chronological order helps, it is still extremely difficult to quickly find information.

And as for the length – although this book seems impressive at 500 pages, it doesn’t need to be that long. While the KISS Album Focus is definitely comprehensive, it can also be repetitive. A lot of information is repeated, sometimes in the course of a single page. This book, despite the title, could really have used more focus.

That being said, I still highly recommend this book to any true KISS fan who wants to dig deeper into the group’s history than the usual Gene Simmons/Paul Stanley PR puffery. You find out who played on what songs; you get the stories behind all the albums from the original makeup era; you get a nice, detailed look at all the stuff the members did before KISS. In short, this book (along with KISS & Sell, Black Diamond, Behind the Mask, and KISS Alive Forever) is essential for any KISS Army recruit.

L. Zarate-Pettite:

Review by L. Zarate-Pettite for The Kiss Album Focus, Vol. 1: Kings of the Night Time World, 1972-82
Rating:
Almost too much info. Some parts were like reading legal briefs. But since I love KISS I cannot complain about the over-detailing. I learned a lot from this book.